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All The AMD Launches Thus Far This Year

After years of underperformance following the Great Recession, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) shares have been seeing a strong comeback since early 2016.

From a low of $1.80 on Jan. 20, 2016, AMD shares have run up sharply through 2016, and the rally continued into 2017, with the stock hitting a high of $15.20 on Feb. 27, 2017. From the low of 2016 to the high of 2017, the gain has been a breathtaking 744.4 percent.

That said, the stock is still off its pre-dot-com bubble high of around $44.

Source: Y Charts

What Has Led To The Optimism?

A multiplicity of factors have worked in unison, pushing the stock to its highest level in a decade.

The macroeconomic picture has begun to take a turn for the better, as the Fed's accommodative monetary policy helped the economy weather the 2007-2008 recession. Economic growth, if not robust, has been fairly in line with the new normal rate. The job market is alive and kicking and consumer spending, the very pillar of the economy, has been solid.

The pre and post-election rally on hopes that fiscal policy would continue to cushion the economy generated optimism. Apart from this, the company also benefited from fundamental performance, specifically its strong product momentum and new launches.

The company has had a series of new releases so far this year. Here's a summary of all those product launches:

March 2: The company released the AMD Ryzen 7 desktop processors, with highest performing and lowest powered 8-core desktop PC processors. The models included Ryzen 7 1800X, Ryzen 7 1700X and Ryzen 7 1700. The product was announced on Feb. 22.

March 7: AMD previewed its Naples high-performance server processor. The company said the server processor exceeded the then top competitive offering on critical parameters, with 45 percent more cores, 60 percent more input/output capacity (I/O) and 122 percent more memory bandwidth.

April 11: Four models of AMD Ryzen 5 desktop processors targeting gamers and creators were launched worldwide. The company said this line-p would provide immersive experiences and high-performance innovation. It also went to the extent of comparing its Ryzen 5 1600X to Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) flagship Core i5 model, namely 7600K, suggesting that its product had 87 percent more performance than Intel's. The models included Ryzen 5 1600X, Ryzen 5 1600, Ryzen 5 1500X and Ryzen 5 1400.

June 20: AMD launched the EPYC 7000 series high-performance datacenter processors meant for critical enterprise, cloud, and machine intelligence workloads. The product, according to the company, had up to 32 high-performance Zen cores and an unparalleled feature set. The announcement concerning the product was made on May 16.

June 27: The company unveiled Radeon Vega Frontier Edition aimed at data scientist, game designers and visualization professionals. The company indicated that it would be 172 percent faster than the comparable competitor card.

July 27: AMD released two models of its Ryzen 3 high-efficiency desktop processor, namely AMD Ryzen 3 1300X and AMD Ryzen 3 1200. The processors, meant for low-end desktops, come with true quad-core unlocked performance for gaming and computing. The Ryzen 3 processor for mobile, code named Raven Ridge, is expected to be released around the year-end holiday season. The company also announced the worldwide release of its seventh generation AMD A-series desktop processor, code named Bristol Ridge and the AMD Athlon X4 CPU for socket AM4, thus providing entry-level processor solutions.

Aug. 14: AMD announced the availability of its Radeon RX Vega 64 graphics air cooled cards meant for gaming. It was priced at $499. Simultaneously, the company announced the availability of its Radeon Packs for a limited time in select regions — Radeon Black Pack, featuring Radeon RX Vega64 air-cooled card priced at $599; and Radeon Aqua Pack, featuring Radeon RX Vega64 Liquid Cooled Edition, priced at $699. The company also said then the Radeon RX Vega56 graphics cards would be available by Aug. 28.

Oct. 26: AMD announced the introduction of its Ryzen mobile processor, previously codenamed the "Raven Ridge" mobile APU. The processor, according to the company, offers leading performance and a complete entertainment experience, with optimal efficiency. It is meant for powering premium 2-in-1s, convertibles and ultrathin notebook computers.